PLN hopes 10,000 MW to reach financial close this year

President Director of state-owned electricity firm PT PLN Sofyan Basir hopes that about 10,000 MW, of the total 35,000 MW to be developed under the government?s five-year program, can reach financial close this year so that the projects can be completed by 2019.

Sofyan was quoted by Bisnis Indonesia as saying that he has been pushing large power plant projects to reach financial close by the end of this year at latest.

He also appealed to the private investors developing the projects to start construction process although they have yet to reach financial close by using the 10 percent deposit requirement as funding source.

He said that starting construction of the projects will help accelerate the financial closing process as it would easier to attract funding institutions.

The paper said that among of the projects whose financial close is expected to be reach this year include the 1,000 MW Cirebon coal-fired extension project in West Java (hopefully in October), the 2x1,000 MW Tanjung Jati B unit 5 and 6 coal-fired power plant in Central Java, and the 2x1,000 MW Java 7 coal fired power plant in Banten.

The government of President Joko Widodo has set an ambitious five-year program to develop a combined 35,000 MW power plants until 2019, much of which to be built by private investors. Progress to date, however, has been slow, prompting interim Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Luhut Panjaitan to say that only about 25,000 MW would likely to be completed in 2019. (*)